Using a Solution-Focused and
Transtheoretical Model Intervention
in a Second-Semester Seminar to
Retain Students
Elizabeth S. Bambacus, MEd, NCC
Virginia Commonwealth University
The “R” Word
Retention
Student engagement
• E.g., living-learning communities, service-learning
Grade point average
• First semester/year: significant predictor of graduation
(Clarke & Cundiff, 2011; Jamelske, 2008)
• First-semester seminars
- Effectiveness inconclusive (Hendel, 2007)
- Focus here on second semester
UNIV 102
• MINDSET for Academic Success
(Motivation, Investigation, Navigation, Direction, Study Skills,
Expectations, Time Management)
•
•
•
•
Second-semester first-year seminar
Academic warning, murky middle
Taught by advisors
Problem: engagement and motivation
Getting Buy-in
• Have students choose their own goal
• Have them self-monitor and self-regulate
• Use theoretical models
– Transtheoretical Model’s Stages of Change
– Solution-Focused Therapy
Transtheoretical Model:
Stages of Change
• 18 psychotherapies: shared processes, 5 stages
(Prochaska & DiClemente, 1982)
• Process: how the person changes
• Stages: when the person changes
• Processes and stages take time
– Early stages = cognitive processes
– Late stages = behavioral processes
– (Grant & Franklin, 2007)
Transtheoretical Model
• Abundantly represented in medical (addictions)
and athletic fields (Norcross, Krebs, & Prochaska, 2011)
• Only two known studies in collegiate setting
(Grant & Franklin, 2007; O’Brien, 2002)
• Changeology (Norcross, 2012)
Stages of Change
1. Precontemplation
Person does not realize need for behavior change
2. Contemplation
Aware of problem; decides change is needed
3. Planning
Thinks about steps necessary for change
4. Action
Implements the plan
5. Maintenance
After 6 months of success, prevents relapse
Stages in College Students (GPA)
1. Precontemplation
First-semester even if grades are bad
2. Contemplation
End of first semester, during winter break; decide to take 2nd
semester orientation course
3. Planning
Develop steps for getting better grades
4. Action
Spend semester working towards their goal
5. Maintenance
Use new skills through rest of college to keep on track
Solution-Focused Theory
• Constructivism paradigm: Response to lengthy
psychotherapies finding root cause of problems
(Berg & De Jong, 1996)
•
Client is the expert
• Client defines problem
• Client sets goals to overcome problem
Solution-Focused Theory
• Counselor’s role:
– Help client reconstruct perception of reality
– Use techniques to highlight client’s strengths
• Common techniques
– Miracle question
– Exception questions
– Coping questions
– Scaling questions
SFT and College Students
• Plethora of studies in higher education
• Positive outcomes in academic development
when using techniques: (Devlin, 2006)
– Goal setting
– Acknowledging pre-session change
– Scaling questions
• Few apply SFT approach to freshman
orientation courses (Fitch, Marshall & McCarthy,
2012)
90-Day Academic Challenge
• Semester-long, goal-oriented series of
assignments and activities
• Uses SFT and the stages of change
• Objectives:
– For students to take ownership of academic
improvement for continued success
– Increase in second-semester GPAs from first
semester
– Increase in retention rates due to increased GPAs
90-Day Academic Challenge (Reasoning)
• Contemplation stage:
– Students choose to take the course
– Ownership of change begins
• Self-monitoring
– Subset of self-regulation
– Student observes own behavior and determines if it
positively or negatively influences academic
achievement
90-Day Academic Challenge
Action Plan
• Planning Stage
• Matt Cutt’s (2011) TED Talk “Try Something
New for 30 Days”
• 18 – 254 days for form a habit (Lally, Van
Jaarsveld, Potts & Wardle, 2010)
• Students create detailed action plan
Choosing a Goal
• Student chooses goal
– One of the best predictors of academic success
(Klomegah, 2007)
– Ownership and pride
– Main component of both SFT (Devlin, 2006) and
transtheoretical model (Norcross, Krebs, &
Prochaska, 2011)
• Instructor guides student in choosing
appropriate goal (SFT)
Steps for Achieving the Goal
• Student lists detailed small goals toward end goal
• SFT technique
– builds self-efficacy
– More likely to keep working toward main goal (Cheng &
Chiou, 2010)
• Transtheoretical planning stage
– List identifies specific steps needed to achieve change
• Be specific:
– Do say: “I will study every Monday and Wed from 3-5pm”
– Don’t say: “I will study more.”
Predicting Challenges
• Student lists possible obstacles towards goal
– Illness = missed classes
– Sleep through a test
– Forget deadline for a paper
• Student outlines solutions for each challenge
– Exchange contact information with other students
– Follow up with professor, see academic advisor
– Follow up with professor, see academic advisor
Support Network
Students lists as many resources as they can
– Campus resources: Writing Center, Counseling
Services, Academic Advising, Library
– Other resources: Mother, father, sister, brother,
friend, neighbor, RA, professor, advisor
– Particularly helpful for first-generation students
(Swecker, et al., 2013)
Scaling
• “On a scale of 1-5, rate your progress on small
goals this week; on main goal” (1= little, 5=met)
• Help student measure progress (Strong, Pyle &
Sutherland, 2009)
• Seeing progress is critical to successful selfmonitoring (Zimmerman & Paulsen, 1995)
• Weekly scales show improvement over time
• Report weekly with journals
Weekly Journals
• Submit online (Blackboard, Dropbox, etc.)
• Weekly reflection discussing accomplishments
and disappointments
• Scaling ratings reported at end of reflection
• Grade on submission, not on progress
Role of Instructor
• Provides ongoing encouragement and support
• Presents academic success skills (e.g., study skills, time
management)
• Willing to change class topic depending upon immediate
needs (disclosed in class or through journals)
• Confronts incongruent behavior to help develop selfmonitoring
• Provides accountability (e.g., deduct points for missed
assignments)
Outcome
• Overall improvement in academic achievement
• Spring 2014:
– Students who took the class:
• 17 students, 7 of them on academic warning (<2.0)
• 58% of all 17 increased GPA
• 43% of warning got on good academic standing
– Students who did not take the class:
• 119 additional students on caseload
• 39% increased GPA
• None on warning made good academic standing (probation)
Additional Observations
•
•
•
•
Small group discussions
Journaling invaluable
Scaling hit or miss
Requirements were met more after middle of
semester
• Additional requirements: tutoring and agendas
– Difficult to meet
– “Changed my life”
Limitations
• Not all students on academic warning were in
the class (from caseload)
• Enrollment is optional
• Small “sample”
• Class meets once a week
References
Berg, I.K., & De Jong, P. (1996). Solution-building conversations: Coconstructing a sense of competence with clients.” Families in Society: The Journal
of Contemporary Social Services, 77(6), 376-391.
Clark, M. & Cundiff, N. (2011). Assessing the effectiveness of a college freshman
seminar using propensity score adjustments. Research in Higher Education, 52(6),
p. 616-639.
DeShazer, S. (1985). Keys to Solution in Brief Therapy. Norton: New York.
Hendel, D. (2007). Efficacy of participating in a first-year seminar on student
satisfaction and retention. Journal of College Student Retention Research Theory and
Practice, 8(4).
Jamelske, E. (2008). Measuring the impact of a university first-year experience
program on student GPA and retention. Higher Education, 57(3), p. 373-391.
Grant, A. M., & Franklin, J. (2007). The transtheoretical model and study skills.
Behaviour Change, 24(02), 99-113.
Klomegah, R. (2007). Predictors of academic performance of university
students: an application of the goal efficacy model. College Student Journal,
41(2), 407-415.
Kuh, G. D., Cruce, T. M., Shoup, R., Kinzie, J., & Gonyea, R. M. (2008).
Unmasking the effects of student engagement on first-year college grades and
persistence. The Journal of Higher Education, 79(5), 540-563.
Norcross, J.C., Krebs, P.M., & Prochaska, J.O. (2011). Stages of change. Journal of
clinical psychology, 67(2), 143-154.
Norcross, J.C. (2012). Changeology: 5 Steps to Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions (Vol.
35, No. 6). Simon and Schuster: New York City.
O'Brien, W. K. (2002). Applying the transtheoretical model to academic procrastination.
Retrieved from ProQuest Information & Learning.
Prochaska, J.O., & DiClemente, C. C. (1982). Transtheoretical therapy: Toward a
more integrative model of change. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research &
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Devlin, M. (2006). Solution focused work in individual academic development.
International Journal for Academic Development 11(2), pp. 101-110.
Fitch, T., Marshall, J., & McCarthy, W. (2012). The effect of solution-focused
groups on self-regulated learning. Journal of College Student Development, 53(4),
586-595.
Zimmerman, B.J., & Paulsen, A.S. (1995). Self-monitoring during collegiate
studying: An invaluable tool for academic self-regulation. New Directions for
Teaching and Learning, 63, 13-27.
Cutts, Matt. (2011, March). Try Something New For 30 Days [Video file].
Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_cutts_try_something_new_
for_30_days.
Lally, P., Van Jaarsveld, C. H., Potts, H. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits
formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social
Psychology, 40(6), 998-1009.
Cheng, P. Y., & Chiou, W. B. (2010). Achievement, attributions, self-efficacy, and
goal setting by accounting undergraduates. Psychological Reports, 106(1), 54-64.
Strong, T., Pyle, N., & Sutherland, O. (2009). Scaling questions: asking and
answering them in counselling, Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 22(2), 171-185.
Swecker, H. K., Fifolt, M., & Searby, L. (2013). Academic advising and firstgeneration college students: A quantitative study on student retention.
NACADA Journal, 33(1), 46-53.
Thank you!
Elizabeth S. Bambacus
bambacuses@vcu.edu